Annie Clark sure has a complicated relationship with religion. First she takes the moniker St. Vincent*, now she releases the explosive and complex track, “Bad Believer”, which explores her memories of spiritual disappointment. While not the first piety-themed song we’ve heard from Clark (who once described herself on the Colbert Report as a “reformed Catholic“), “Bad Believer” is arguably the only one to explore the theme with such unabashed, glam-rock revelry. Clark drowns out any residual shame with all-encompassing guitar distortion (as identifiably St. Vincent as a thumbprint), percussion underscored by church bells, and an angelic bridge that reaches toward heaven. With “Bad Believer”, Clark sends us back to Sunday school, shakes our foundations, and reaffirms our faith in rock-and-roll.

The track, which first premiered on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 radio show, is the highlight of the deluxe edition reissue of St. Vincent’s Grammy nominated, self-titled album of last year (which made our top 10 albums list). The reissue will also feature the Japanese bonus track “Del Rio”, Record Store Day releases “Pieta” and Sparrow”, and Darkside’s remix of “Digital Witness”. You can expect to see the deluxe edition hitting shops February 9.

Give this new track a listen below, and let us know what you think!

In other Annie news, St. Vincent will be performing as part of David Byrne’s June 27-28 festival, Contemporary Color; a Brooklyn Academy of Music event celebrating “the sport of the arts” known as “color guard.” The hilarious promo video below will do a better job of explaining just exactly what this event will be…

CONTEMPORARY COLOR! from Bob Weisz Sucks on Vimeo.

[Source: Pitchfork]

*Okay, maybe the name has less to do with religion than a reference to a Nick Cave song, but the article needed a hook, okay?